25 lies told by freelancers and clients

Liars are everywhere, but theyโ€™re hard to spot, even if their pants are on fire. Never fear, Iโ€™ve researched the top 25 business lies told by freelancers and clients. Actually, there are only 14, but 25 will bait more readers.

If youโ€™ve worked as or with a freelancer, youโ€™ll no doubt have heard and spouted a whole bunch of non-core promises. Freelancers and clients alike know theyโ€™re lies, but play along anyway.

Here are the top business lies according to my in-depth global research (not really).

Top business lies told by freelancers:

1. Iโ€™m really excited about your project = Iโ€™m really excited about your money

2. Iโ€™m flexible to meet anytime this week = I have no work on at the moment

3. Iโ€™ve been working on that all morning = Iโ€™ll start on that this afternoon

4. Iโ€™ve scheduled that in for tomorrow = @#$% I forgot about that, but Iโ€™ve just written it down

5. Iโ€™m booked out for the next few months = I donโ€™t like you, or your business

6. Do you have a budget in mind? = Can I get away with charging even more than usual?

7. I love the flexibility of freelancing = I love taking my time to look for a full-time job

Top business lies told by clients:

1. Your invoice has been processed = I did print your invoice, but left it on the printer

2. We want something really โ€˜out thereโ€™ and quirky = We want something really conservative

3. Iโ€™ll send you a full brief early this week = Iโ€™ll send you a wad of random documents next week

4. Can you just throw something together? = Can you do a proper job but charge a lot less?

5. Can you give me a ballpark figure? = Exactly how much will it be? Iโ€™ll hold you to it later.

6. Thatโ€™s definitely a phase two requirement = Thatโ€™s definitely never going to happen

7. We nurture long-term supplier relationships = Well we do, as long as theyโ€™re the cheapest

So, honestly, what do you lie about? I wonโ€™t believe you, but tell me anyway.